F3 Champion Rafael Camara: Ferrari's Next Star on the Path to F1
Why it matters: Rafael Camara, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, has dominantly clinched the F3 title, positioning himself as a strong contender for a rapid ascent to F1, following the footsteps of talents like Charles Leclerc.
The details:
- Camara secured the F3 championship at Hungaroring with a commanding lights-to-flag victory, establishing an unassailable 48-point lead over Mari Boya ahead of the Monza round.
- His success is built on a strong junior career, including a runner-up finish in the competitive Italian F4 championship (behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli) and a comprehensive championship win in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine last year.
- Despite his dominant season, Camara admitted surprise at his strong start, particularly his feature race win in Australia after a sprint race collision.
Qualifying prowess:
- Camara's exceptional consistency in qualifying, boasting a 2.8 average position and five pole positions in nine rounds, is a key differentiator. This level of qualifying dominance hasn't been seen since Luca Ghiotto in GP3 in 2015, who also had five poles and a 2.7 average.
- He attributes this to his ability to quickly find the limit and adapt the car setup, even with F3's limited 45-minute free practice sessions before qualifying.
Sunday dominance:
- While his sprint race results were mixed due to reversed grids (often starting around 10th), Camara was a force on Sundays.
- He scored a whopping 138 points out of 226 possible in feature races, far surpassing his closest competitors Mari Boya (83) and Tim Tramnitz (67).
- He secured four emphatic victories from pole in Australia, Bahrain, Spain, and Hungary. His only lowlights were a retirement in Monaco and a misjudged slick tyre gamble at Silverstone.
What's next: The 20-year-old is now set to move to F2, with aspirations of emulating former champions like Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, and Gabriel Bortoleto, who achieved back-to-back GP3/F3 and F2 titles as rookies – a direct path to F1.